Silent Night, Still Heart
by xAimiMizukix
Summary: Claire came to Mineral Town excited and left torn and broken. After the events there, she begins questioning her love. She moves to Forget-Me-Not-Valley and refuses to fall in love again but will a mysterious theif convince her otherwise?
1. Thief

_Falling in love… what does that mean anymore? Is there really a suitable definition for love? How about a name for someone who's fallen in an out of love just like that? Or someone who just can't or won't let go? _

_Everyone has a secret or two concerning things about love. Each lover has their own secrets whether it is a good or bad one. Traveling around with a huge secret can cause a huge burden. Yet, people choose to keep those secrets to themselves instead of sharing the burden. Why is that? Why do people choose that fate? I'm one of those people yet…. even I can't answer those questions. Why do I keep such a burden with me? Maybe it's because I don't want anyone finding out. Or maybe I'm just scared; scared of it happening all over again._

_xx._

_There was once a Goddess who fell in love with a mortal. She decided to keep her love a secret and watched the man from her place in the skies._

_xx._

"Welcome to Forget-Me-Not-Valley, Claire!" Vesta cheered as a blond girl walked up the road leading to the valley. "I'm sure you'll love this place way more than Mineral Town."

_I sure hope I do._

"Thanks, Vesta. It's nice to see you again," Claire said, "your farm is looking good." She glanced at the rows and rows or crops that were ready to harvest.

"Yep! After a lot of hard work your, farm will look just as good or maybe even better."

"I sure hope so. I'm really excited to start," I smiled a genuine smile, "I want to make my parents proud."

This made Vesta smile even more. She looked up and shouted at the sky. "Hear that, Alaina? William? You have a fine daughter!"

She turned back to a now red faced Claire. "Oh sorry," she laughed, "now to show you around."

They started walking at a quick pace. Claire sighed. This was just like Vesta; she didn't change a bit since she last saw her. She looked up at the sky.

_Mom…Dad… I'll make you proud._

Lost in her thoughts, Claire didn't realize that Vesta had stopped walking and nearly bumped right into her.

"Your farm is going to be just up that road," she said pointing at a small road leading to what seemed like an empty plot. "One day you'll surpass me I just know it." She turned to a row of small houses. "That over there is the Inner Inn. Some people from Mineral Town come here often and stay there."

Claire's heart skipped a beat.

_Mineral Town…._

She shook her head. No, she wasn't going to be haunted by the past. "That's great. I'll still get to see my friends."

That made Vesta pause for a moment. She didn't hear the reason Claire left Mineral Town. That sudden decision; that sudden outburst that surprised and mystified everyone. "Sweetheart," she said as soft as possible as if Claire was a small scared kitten, "Why did you leave?"

Claire looked away. "I just didn't like the area. I wanted something bigger. Something more for my parents to look at."

Obviously, that was a huge lie but Vesta seemed to buy it. She wasn't the nosy type. She continued on with her tour of the valley, pointing at several buildings and talking about the different people. "That's the Blue Bar. Griffin and Muffy work there. It's just like the bar at Mineral Town but the drinks are much better… oh and down there's the beach. They do fireworks there during the summer. Oh and Kai…."

She kept going on until the sky started to get dark. "Oh my, the time has come and gone so quickly. Wait I need to show you one more place. It's the villa up there."

When they proceeded up the road, Vesta suddenly switched topics. "Oh right I need to tell you about one more person. This one's a real troublemaker. I suggest you stay as far away from him as possible."

"Why is that?"

"Well he—"

Suddenly, they heard yelling at the villa. "Come back you thief!" A girl's voice yelled out.

"Speak of the devil," Vesta hissed before a white haired boy came running down the road. "Stop you thief! You won't be stealing anything tonight!"

The boy obviously did not expect to run into anyone on his escape out. When he saw Claire and Vesta, a confused and amused look crept upon his face. He stopped in front of them and smiled. "Two lovely ladies today. Aren't I lucky?"

He cocked his head at the sight of Claire. "My my. Why hello there, beautiful."

Claire's face instantly reddened. She found it hard to speak. "W-wha…w-who are you?"

The boy bowed and focused his eyes on hers. "My name is Skye but you can call me Phantom Skye." He looked at a now angry Vesta. "I apologize but I'm in a hurry and must be taking my—"

"Oh no you won't!" a girl shouted as she marched down the road. "Give me back the stuff you stole from our kitchen!"

Skye turned his head a bit and smiled. "Three ladies? My my… what a marvelous night." He sighed and took a few steps so he was looking at all three of them. "But as I said, I am in a hurry….CHICK BEAM FIRE!"

Claire blinked…. Did he just say… What was wrong with him? Then she realized. She tried to lift her arm but she couldn't. Her whole body won't move. She glanced around and saw that Vesta and the girl were having the same problem.

In frustration, the girl shouted at Skye who was slowly taking his leave. "I can't believe you! Stealing things from us! You have no right!"

Skye simply laughed. "I'm only borrowing, my dear. Now don't get angry. You beautiful face need not be spoiled by your anger."

The girl flushed red but anger remained on her face.

Skye slowly crept away but before that, he turned back to Claire. "The moonlight tonight is beautiful isn't it?" he smiled, "Just like you."

Claire's face instantly reddened again. "W-wha…."

Skye laughed and walked away leaving them frozen until a couple minutes later.

"That thief," Vesta hissed, "he's always stealing things and always getting away with it."

The girl eyed Claire; the anger from before had slowly died away. "Hey, are you the new farmer?"

Claire nodded and the girl gave a small smile. "Hey. I'm Lumina. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Claire."

Lumina smiled but her smile quickly turned into distaste. "Sorry about what happened. Skye always causes trouble for us. Besides him, everyone else in this Valley are nice and peaceful." When they realized what time it was, Lumina said that she should head back. "I hope you enjoy it here, Claire."

Claire nodded thanks and followed Vesta to a small house in front of the empty plot.

"Tomorrow, you'll be a farmer again," she said and led her into the house. "There's not much but I guess you're already used to that from your early years in Mineral Town. I put a few extra changes of clothing in that box over there. There's a telephone over there, bookshelf, and your bed."

Claire walked over and got into the bed. She didn't feel tired at all but with another look at the sky, she knew it was indeed very late."

"Get some sleep… you'll need all the strength you can get."

Claire didn't respond and pretended that she was asleep. She waited until Vesta finally left before opening her eyes. Something about that thief made her uneasy. She tried to imagine what it was. His eyes all the way down to his clothes to the way he talks…

_No! I will not fall for him! Not after what happened…._

Suddenly, Claire found it hard to think much less breathe correctly. Her heart pounded against her chest as the events from a couple nights ago came flooding back to her. She clenched her pillow and tossed around on her bed.

She knew that sleep wasn't coming to her anytime soon…


	2. Again

_One day, the mortal found himself in the middle of a losing fight. In order to save him, the Goddess selflessly struck down his pursuers._

_xx._

"_Claire, what are you doing here?"_

"_Shouldn't I be asking you that?"_

Claire woke up startled. Throwing off the covers, she slowly got out of the bed and looked around.

_That's right, this is Forget-Me-Not-Valley…_

This isn't Mineral Town anymore. This was a fresh start. Claire took a deep breath and checked the time. 6:30….there was a lot of time left before everyone else would begin to wake up. She walked out the door and turned around to face the empty lot.

_I have a lot of work to do._

Lucky for her, she had leftover seeds from Mineral Town. She planted and was watering some seeds when there was a small tap on her shoulder. She spun around and was face to face with the mayor.

He gave her a sad smile. "I just wanted to check on your new farm. It's a big place…"

Claire nodded unable to speak.

"Well it looks like you have a lot of work to do…. Good luck." He laughed softly. "May and Stu wouldn't stop asking about you. You had a lot of influence on the kids you know."

Claire nodded, "I know. Tell them I miss them."

The mayor nodded before asking the big question. "Claire, why did you leave?"

Claire became quiet once more, shook her head, and turned away.

The mayor apologized and walked away leaving the awkward silence behind.

Realizing how much time went by, Claire went out to town. She was halfway across the bridge when she ran into Vesta.

"Oh hey, sweety, you okay?"

Claire nodded. "Is there any part of this valley…that well….is worth seeing?"

Vesta nodded and led her up the path and they ended up face to face with a beautiful pond. The water shimmered in the light.

Claire was speechless.

"This is the Goddess pond. If you think it looks beautiful now, it looks even better at night."

Claire turned to face the trees around the pond. "At night?"

"I'm not lying. You should see for yourself tonight." Suddenly, she stopped and gave Claire a stern look. "But be careful okay? Skye comes out at night."

Claire nodded. "Thanks, Vesta. I'll be careful."

"Well, I'll leave you alone to explore now. I have some business to do." She gave Claire a pat on the back and walked away.

Claire stood at the edge of the pond for a little while before heading off, herself.

She couldn't shake off the feeling that Skye gave her last night. Yes, she had promised Vesta that she'll be careful but she wanted to see him again.

"Claire?" A familiar voice said.

She spun around and immediately wished that she had walked away. There, she stood face to face with Cliff.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

_What are you doing here?_

"I come here every Saturday. Listen, Claire—" He tried to reach for her but she quickly backed away.

_Go away._

"Claire, tell me what's wrong."

_Go away_

"Was it something I did? Was it something I said?"

"!"

Cliff staggered back; the hurt on his face was evident. "I'm sorry," he said before walking away, leaving Claire alone again.

She walked along the pond before heading for the villa.

_Will I see him again?_

She headed up the steps not realizing that it was getting dark. At the door of the villa, she heard a soft murmuring that came from a small house next to the villa.

Curious, Claire knocked on the door and the murmuring stopped. A girl opened the door and scoffed. "Who are you?"

Claire stiffened. "C-Claire."

The girl went back in but left the door open.

Claire took that was a welcome and walked in. The place was packed with books. It wasn't really a happy looking place either. What surprised her most was the huge cauldron in the middle of the room. "Y-you're…a witch."

"What gave you that idea?" she scoffed again and looked over Claire. "You must be the new farmer."

Claire rolled her eyes. What had she gotten into?

The Witch gave her a curious look and her expression turned playful. "You're in love."

Claire's heart skipped a beat. "How…"

"It's written all over your face." She took out a small ring. "This can tell you the level of love you have with someone else."

Claire couldn't believe it. The Witch was offering her a magic ring. Yet, there was something not right about it. "I'm not making a deal with a witch."

"There's really no catch. I'm giving it to you for free."

"Why"

"Because I took a liking to you."

"What did I say?"

"You didn't have to say anything. I can tell from your expression." The Witch placed the ring in Claire's hand.

Claire was in shock but slowly, she nodded and went out of the house.

A ring that can tell you the level of love between you and someone else….

She shook her head and stuffed the ring in her pocket.

_Impossible…impossible._

That witch was crazy. Yes, that was it. She was crazy.

It was almost midnight and she knew that she should be heading back. However, she found herself heading for the Goddess Pond.

She stood there for a while before a soft whisper interrupted her concentration.

"What is such a pretty girl like you doing out so late at night?"

Claire jumped and turned to face Skye. "I-it's you."

Skye gave her a charming smile. "The pond is beautiful tonight; just like you."

Against her own judgment, Claire blushed and turned away. "I don't have anything for you to steal."

Skye laughed and gently took her arm. "It's getting late. Shall I walk you home?"

Before she could respond, Skye firmly but gently pulled her along with him.

"H-hey!"

When they finally made it back to her farm, he gave her a small bow. "Until we meet again, my beauty."

"Y-yea…"

When he went away, Claire went into the house and leaned against the wall; her heart beating fast.

_Can't be…it can't be_

He was messing with her. Just like…him.

Claire took a deep breath and stared at her bed. It was happening all over again.

She just hopes that she'll finally get some sleep tonight.


End file.
